Why X-Plain?
The Patient Education Institute helps healthcare providers engage patients and ensure that they understand their treatment options and care instructions. Our award-winning patient education software is known as X-Plain®.
Studies have shown that many patients do not read the handouts given to them, and when they do, they often don’t understand the information. Teach-back is a common way of verifying patient comprehension through face-to-face communication. X-Plain tutorials assist with the teach-back method by asking questions and providing interactive feedback. Our programs use multimedia presentations to support informed consent, provide discharge instructions, help with disease management, and promote public health.
Studies have shown that many patients do not read the handouts given to them, and when they do, they often don’t understand the information. Teach-back is a common way of verifying patient comprehension through face-to-face communication. X-Plain tutorials assist with the teach-back method by asking questions and providing interactive feedback. Our programs use multimedia presentations to support informed consent, provide discharge instructions, help with disease management, and promote public health.
What are X-Plain Tutorials?
An X-Plain tutorial is a multimedia presentation that covers a specific health topic. Each slide displays simplified text alongside related illustrations and animations. The text is fully narrated so patients can listen and read at the same time.
The tutorial asks the patient questions during the presentation to verify understanding. If the patient answers correctly, the concept is reinforced. If the patient answers incorrectly, the tutorial explains the concept again.
Each patient can advance through the tutorial at his or her own pace. The programs maintain the patient's attention through multimedia, interactive questions, and a variety of techniques based on adult learning research.
The X-Plain library includes thousands of tutorials in English, Spanish, and Arabic. They span the entire continuum of care, including acute and chronic care, procedures and discharge instructions, informed consent, rehab, and health promotion.
The Patient Education Institute publishes each health topic in 5 other instructional formats in addition to the tutorial: videos, illustrated handouts, text, overviews, and test-your-knowledge quizzes. The variety of educational formats allows patients to select their preferred learning method.
X-Plain offers more than 16,000 patient education items that can be delivered through a client's website, tablets, EMR, patient portal, bedside TV system, and other channels.
The X-Plain library includes thousands of tutorials in English, Spanish, and Arabic. They span the entire continuum of care, including acute and chronic care, procedures and discharge instructions, informed consent, rehab, and health promotion.
The Patient Education Institute publishes each health topic in 5 other instructional formats in addition to the tutorial: videos, illustrated handouts, text, overviews, and test-your-knowledge quizzes. The variety of educational formats allows patients to select their preferred learning method.
X-Plain offers more than 16,000 patient education items that can be delivered through a client's website, tablets, EMR, patient portal, bedside TV system, and other channels.
Who Writes and Updates the X-Plain Content?
Our Medical Advisory Board writes all of the content, which is trusted by the Who's Who in Medicine and Healthcare. Check the Content section or contact us for detailed information about how we write, revise, and update our content.
Why Do Patients Prefer X-Plain?
Our end-users are patients and health consumers. Since 1995, hundreds of evaluation studies conducted independently by our clients have shown that more than 9 out of 10 patients appreciate X-Plain and wish all their doctors offered it.
Why do patients appreciate X-Plain? Here are the 5 main reasons:
Why do patients appreciate X-Plain? Here are the 5 main reasons:
- Patients can see and hear the information in multiple modalities (text, narration, illustrations, and animations). Research shows this multiple-input approach improves the user's attention, comprehension, and retention of the material (see Research under About Us).
- The user controls the pace of learning – they can proceed at their own pace and return to previous slides for review. They can also turn off the narration to advance more quickly, if desired. If the patient becomes distracted, the presentation stops until he or she touches the screen.
- Patients gain confidence when they answer interactive questions correctly. Confident patients are more likely to ask their healthcare team questions and to point out possible medical errors.
- Patients feel less intimidated when they answer a question incorrectly in an electronic program than when they give an incorrect response to a nurse or doctor.
- Patients can see the health topic in the formats of their choice (video, multimedia tutorial, illustrated text, etc.).
Why Do Nurses, Doctors and Other Healthcare Staff Prefer X-Plain?
Healthcare teams that choose us over the competition often state one or more of the following reasons:
- Teach-back is a time-consuming activity. X-Plain makes the process less intimidating for the patient and prepares him or her to communicate effectively with healthcare providers.
- X-Plain solutions can be integrated into existing software systems (EMR, patient portal, bedside patient station, etc.), so there is no need for staff to learn new software.
- Nurses want their patients to be satisfied, confident, and empowered to ask questions. Surveys affirm that X-Plain consistently helps patients understand their options and engage in their care.
- We offer more than 5,200 multimedia programs – more than any of our competitors. These programs span 40 medical specialties across the continuum of care.
- We offer a free trial period and instruments so prospective clients can evaluate patient and staff feedback.
Why Do Healthcare Executives Support Staff Who Want to Use X-Plain?
Executives of healthcare organizations face the challenge of improving outcomes while reducing cost. During the past two decades, hundreds of studies have shown that educating and engaging patients can help improve outcomes, reduce costs, and enhance patient satisfaction.
Executives of healthcare institutions who support investing in X-Plain often state one or more of the following reasons:
Executives of healthcare institutions who support investing in X-Plain often state one or more of the following reasons:
- The Patient Education Institute (PEI) helps our staff implement and evaluate X-Plain. PEI provides metrics on usage and completion of the programs. X-Plain tutorials also report completion and comprehension data.
- X-Plain uses existing devices, such as tablets, computers, or bedside TVs. X-Plain programs also run on the patient's own smartphone or tablet.
- PEI has a longer track-record in electronic health education than any of its competitors – 24 years of experience developing computer-mediated patient engagement solutions.
- PEI can help standardize communication across a health system. PEI publishes each topic in different educational formats (videos, tutorials, illustrated handouts, etc.). Then PEI updates the content and delivers it through various channels (a smartphone app or their website, patient portal, TV system, or EMR system).
- PEI keeps an archive of each X-Plain multimedia program. Should a medico-legal need arise, PEI can show what a particular patient has seen years ago.
Watch the Why X-Plain video, browse our website to learn who and how we help or contact us for more info.
